Wolfgang Schäuble, long-serving German politician, dies aged 81

Wolfgang Schäuble, who served as a member of the German parliament for over half a century, has died aged 81, ending one of Germany’s longest political careers in which he helped secure his country’s place at the heart of Europe.

Mr Schäuble, who spent much of his career devoted to re-unifying his country and later served as former chancellor Angela Merkel’s finance minister during the eurozone debt crisis, died peacefully late on Tuesday, said a spokesperson for the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) on Wednesday.

Mr Schäuble had been a member of the CDU since 1965 and a member of parliament since 1972.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz mourned Mr Schäuble’s death in a social media post on X: “Germany has lost a sharp thinker, passionate politician and pugnacious democrat.”

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CDU leader Friedrich Merz expressed his deep grief at Mr Schäuble’s death on X. “In Wolfgang Schäuble, I lose the dearest friend and adviser I’ve ever had in politics,” Mr Merz said.

Tributes also came in from France, where finance minister Bruno Le Maire expressed his “profound sadness” on X.

“He was a friend, a loyal and reliable partner, and a tireless craftsman of the friendship between Germany and France,” Mr Le Maire wrote.

Once Ms Merkel’s boss before their roles were reversed, Schäuble pulled the strings of Germany’s policy response to the eurozone crisis, securing support on the right of their conservative bloc for three Greek bailouts.

A former Schäuble aide later suggested to The Irish Times that Ireland was caught in the crossfire between Germany and southern European bailout countries.

Prof Christian Kastrop said the dominant view in Berlin at the time was to ensure all countries swallowed strong austerity medicine.

“I never understood back then why programme countries making progress were hit with overblown austerity measures rather than more restraint,” said the former finance ministry official. “To be fair, when it comes to other countries, and I don’t mean Ireland, it was right to hold them to certain fiscal discipline.”

In November 2015, soon after Ms Merkel allowed entry to hundreds of thousands of migrants, Mr Schäuble said the country risked “an avalanche” of refugees triggered by “careless” actions.

He subsequently defended Ms Merkel’s migrant policy, however, when the Alternative for Germany (AfD) waded into the debate, accusing the far-right party of fuelling xenophobia.

Over the final years of his career, the AfD grew into a more formidable opponent of the CDU, with critics accusing the centre-right party of adopting its rhetoric on migration under Mr Merz.

Mr Schäuble used a wheelchair since 1990 after being shot three times at an election campaign event a few days after German reunification. – Reuters

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